Apparatus for packaging books in cartons



1955 w. P. ROWLAND ET AL 2,719,392

APPARATUS FOR PACKAGING BOOKS IN CARTONS Filed July 19, 1952 5 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. WALTER P ROWLAND BY K. PAYNE MARTIN Oct 1955 w. P. ROWLAND ET AL APPARATUS FOR PACKAGING BOOKS IN CARTONS 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 19 1952 INVENTOR. WALTER P ROWLAND K. PAYNE MARTIN Oct. 4, 1955 w, P. ROWLAND ET AL APPARATUS FOR PACKAGING BOOKS IN CARTONS 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed July 19, 1952 I N V EN TOR.

WALTER P. ROWLAND K PAYNE MARTIN irww ti Oct. 4, 1955 v w, P. ROWLAND ETAL 2,719,392

APPARATUS FOR PACKAGING BOOKS I'N CARTONS Filed July 19, 1952 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 i3 INVENTOR.

WALTER P. ROWLAND f. BY K. PAYNE MARTIN 1955 w, P. ROWLAND ETAL 2,719,392

APPARATUS FOR PACKAGING BOOKS IN CARTONS Filed July 19, 1952 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR. WALTER R ROWLAND K. PAYNE MARTIN United States Patent APPARATUS FOR PACKAGING BOOKS IN CARTONS Walter P. Rowland, Clinton, and Kenneth Payne Martin, Concord, Mass, assignors to The Colonial Press, Inc, Clinton, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Application July 19, 1952, Serial No. 299,788

13 Claims. (Cl. 53-64) This invention relates to apparatus for packaging books in cartons.

An expensive problem in the manufacture of books is that of putting the books in cartons and sealing the same for mailing purposes. This has previously involved a great deal of hand labor and much handling of the books; and it may represent a bottleneck in the progressive operation of the plant.

It has been proposed heretofore to wrap a magazine type of book in a paper wrapper to form a surrounding tubular cover and to seal the outer edge in place, but a machine adapted for a such a procedure would not serve for packaging a book in a cardboard carton of the stand ard shape now used for mailing purposes. Also, it has been proposed to open up a collapsed premade tubular carton and insert articles therein, but it has not been found feasible to package a book in that way. The nature of a book makes it difficult to insert a book into a premade carton mechanically but requires that the carton be formed around the book from a flat cardboard cut to a cross shape and creased to provide flaps which may be bent around the ends and sides of the book and overlapping at the top.

The primary object of this invention is to perform such an operation mechanically and to provide a machine which will automatically build a carton around a book, and which will operate progressively and expeditiously in the packaging of a series of books fed thereto.

A further object is to provide apparatus of this general type in which books are fed serially to a set of shaped cardboards and the latter are folded in place to form the cartons and the latter are sealed progressively.

Another object is to provide such a machine in which the series of cartons are sealed in a row by a continuous tape and the latter is severed between the cartons and the free ends folded into position on the carton to effect the final sealing thereof.

A still further object is to provide apparatus of this type which will work efilciently, economically and substantially automatically in the progressive packaging of books. Other objects will be apparent in the following disclosure.

Referring to the drawings illustrating a preferred embodiment of this invention:

Fig. l is a vertical elevation of the right hand end of the machine with various parts omitted or shown diagrammatically for the sake of clarity;

Fig. 2 is a similar elevation of the central section;

Fig. 3 is a similar view of the left hand section of the machine, these views of Figs. 1 to 3 being made overlapping to show the continuity of operation;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of a carton in an unfolded condition together with a diagrammatic showing of part of a feed mechanism;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary vertical section on the line 55 of Fig. l which shows the book pushing mechanism;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary elevation taken on the line 66 of Fig. 1 which shows the book support and the carton feeding mechanism;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary side elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 8 which illustrates the rotary folding arm in an ineffective position and the front flap of the carton being folded over the book;

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary sectional view at right angles to that of Fig. 7 taken on the line $-8 of Fig. 2, but with the glue pot and related structure omitted;

Fig. 9 is a detail corresponding with Fig. 7 but with the book advanced to a position where the side flaps are being folded vertically and the rear flap is being folded down by the rotary arm;

Fig. 10 is a vertical section similar to Fig. 8 taken on the line 101t) of Fig. 2 and with the book in the position of Fig. 9, the side flaps of the carton being shown folded vertically;

Fig. 11 is a vertical section similar to Fig. 10 which shows the side flaps of the book completely folded into position;

Fig. 12 is a sectional detail of the tape cutting mechanism, taken on the line 1212 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 13 is a fragmentary vertical section on the line 13-13 of Fig. 3, which shows the book inverting mechanism.

As a general description, this apparatus comprises a series of inter-related mechanisms whereby stiff paper board cartons 10 of the general type shown in Fig. 4 in a fiat, unfolded condition are fed progressively forward. Each tlat carton may be made suitably of relatively stiff cardboard, as distinguished from paper. It is preliminarily provided with inner and outer creases arranged to provide doubly foldable flaps. That is, end flap portions 11 may be folded along the inner creases and upright against the ends of the book, and the outer flap portions 13 may be folded along the outer creases over the top of the book. Likewise, side flap portions are defined by inner and outer creases, so that the portions 12 may be folded against the side of the book and the outer portions 14 over the tops of the end flaps. The portions 14 have a. width such that they meet substantially at the center for sealing by means of an adhesive tape. The end flaps 13 are held in place by being located beneath the side flaps 14.

A set of these flat cardboards 10 (Fig. 1) is mounted between vertical standards 15 which are so spaced and arranged that they engage the flap ends 1-4, as shown diagrammatically in Fig. 4. Only the lowermost cardboard may be withdrawn from the pile by lugs or cleats 16 suitably carried by a horizontal endless chain or carrier system 17. That is, the standards 15 are spaced from the chain to permit a single cardboard to slide out from under, and the lugs 16 are spaced to engage the ends of the flaps 12 and 14, and they are low enough to pass under the standards 15 and shove the lowermost cardboard from beneath the pile.

A set of books 20 is stacked in a vertical arrangement on a traveling belt 18, as shown particularly in Figs. 1 and S, and these books are progressively pushed edgewise by a reciprocating pusher 21 in timed relation with the movement of the lugs 16 on a carrier 17 in such a manner that each book 20 falls onto a cardboard just as the latter is moved into position therefor. A rotary pusher 22 (Fig. 1) is timed to strike against the forward edge of the book and shove it onto the cardboard and to position it properly relative to the end flaps. The book is moved forward on its cardboard to a position where it passes beneath the blocks 24 depending from an endless chain 25 (shown in both Figs. 1 and 2) which hold the book down on its carrier. While thus held, the book and cardboard pass forward onto a second endless carrier 26 (Fig. 2) which moves slower than the first carrier 17. The second carrier has a series of upstanding blocks 27 which are spaced to permit the book and the upturned carton flaps 1-1 to be located snugly therebetween. While the book is on the faster carrier 17 it is crowded thereby against the front one of two lugs 27 on the slower chain 26 and thus serves to lift the forward flap 11 of the cardboard into an upstanding position. Then a second lug 27 (Fig. 2) comes from beneath and folds the rear end flap 11 to an upright posit-ion, and the two end flaps 11 are thus crowded between adjacent lugs 27 of the carrier 26 and moved forward while thus held.

The side flaps have remained flat and unfolded while the end flaps are folded. These side flaps 12, 14' are then passed into contact with the bent side rails. 28 (Figs. 2, 7', 9) which lift the side flaps into a vertical position where they are held by the parallel vertical channel walls 29. Just prior to the folding of the side flaps of the carton, the leading upstanding end flap 13 passes beneath a horizontal camming plate 30 (Fig. 7')

which has a front sloping edge 31 positioned just above a by the rail 28, and these side flaps then pass into contact with the opposed twistedguide plates 34, shown particularly in Figs. 2, l0 and 1 1, which are shaped to crowd the upper portions of the side flaps 14' down into position on the topof the book. Thereafter, these flaps 14 are held horizontally by passing beneath the horizontal flanges 35 which serve as continuations of the curved plates. 34. The flanges 35 are parts of angleirons 36 whose vertical sides form continuations of the side flanges 29;

The horizontal flanges 35 are spaced laterally to provide room for applying an adhesive tape. Then while the top flaps 14 are held in position against the tops of the end flaps, the carton is passed, as shown at the left in Fig. 2', beneath a continuous adhesive tape 38 where a roller 39 causes that tape to be fixed to the adjacent portionsof the top flaps 14 and over the crevice therebetween. The tape 14 adhering to the carton is moved forward by the motion of the book and thus.

extends not only across the carton top but into the space between twoadjacent cartons which have been purposely r separated by the chain lugs to provide tape for foldingaround the ends and beneath the bottom of the carton. The: book carton has been transferred to a third carrier made of twospaced chains 40* having low lugs 41 thereon arranged to permit subsequent operations. This carrier 40 feeds the carton beneath spring wipers 42' (Fig. 3') which engagethe top ofthetape and force it into full contact with the book carton. Then each pair of adjacent cartons pass to a position where one of a set of vertically reciprocable longitudinally traveling knives 43 is forcibly brought down against the taut tape between the two cartons and severs the same midway therebetween.

At the same time, two brushes 44 and 45' associated and traveling with each knife 43 move down, as will be explained, to wipe the two severed portions of the tape across the adjacent ends-of the books. The driving lugs 41- arearranged onthe chain 40' as spaced pairs which permit the tape 38 to be wiped into place therebetween. The tape that is at the rear of the first of the twocartons is wiped forward by a rapidly traveling brush 46 to stick against the bottom portion of the carton. Also, the tape at the leading end' of the rear carton is wiped into position beneath the carton by a stationary brush 47. Thus the carton is fully sealed by the single strip of adhesive tape that has been folded into position.

Thereafter, th

sealed carton passes above a rotary arm 48 which travels at a faster speed than does the carton and flops the carton end over end, so that the portion formerly at the top is now at the bottom, whereupon the carton is in position for an application of a mailing address strip which may be suitably applied.

With the above as a general description of the machine, the details of various mechanisms will now be described.

Referring first to the cardboard feed mechanism shown primarily in Figs. 1 and 6, the cross shaped and creased cardboardsv 10, which are to be folded to form the cartons, are piled in a horizontal arrangement between the four uprights 15 which are shaped as angleirons with their angles facing inwardly and spaced so that the corners of the flaps 14 (Fig. 4) fit therein. These vertical angleirons are suitably supported and their end flanges are cut away to be spaced above the endless carrier 17 by a distance only slightly greater than the thickness of one of the cardboards. The carrier 17' comprises two spaced chains, shown particularly in Fig. 6, and the spaced lugs 16 thereon are low enough so that they will pass under the angleirons 15 and high enough to engage effectively the side of each cardboard outside of the end flaps 11 and remove the bottom one of the pile from beneath the rest. The blocks 16 are spaced enough to prevent interference of one cardboard with another. Thus, as the pair of chains 17 move thepushers 16 in parallelism, the pushers engage the cardboards and shove them out one at a time at a rate and spacing depending upon the spacing of the pusher blocks 16. This construction comprises two sprockets 50 carried by a shaft 51 suitably mounted at the right hand end of the machine in the framework 52 (Fig. 6) and the pusher blocks 16 are, of course, in alignment for their intended purpose. The two pairs of chains pass over similar sprockets 54, shown at the left hand, e nd of Fig. 1 as mounted on a shaft 55 likewise carried by the machine frame. The shaft 55 is suitably driven by a motor (not shown): connected through chain 56 (Fig. 2) to a driving sprocket on the shaft. This constitutes the main power drive for the various mechanisms of the machine.

The books 20 are fed into position on the carton by mechanism shown primarily in Figs. 1, 5 and 6. The books are stacked vertically on two parallel spaced downwardly sloping endless fabric belts 18 carried on two sets of rollers 59' and 60 to a position where the left hand book of the series shown in Fig. 1 is shoved laterally (towards the front) by a pusher mechanism. The books are guided by and between a stationary vertical wall 62 and an adjustable wall 63 (Fig. 6). The latter is moved by means of a screw 64 threaded into a stationary block 65 carried by an upright portion of the framework. These parts are so made that the wall 63 may be moved to different positions to accommodate diifercnt widths of books.

The books are manually mounted on the belt 18. The belt transfers them to position A on a stationary platform 66- at its end, where a vertical back wall 68:

fixed tothe platform serves to limit the forward motion of the book by belt 18. The pusher comprises a vertical block 67: carried on areciprocable arm 21 which is moved horizontally by means of an angleiron 69 (Fig, 5') slidably mounted on a fixed horizontal rod 70 and reciprocated by a crank arm 71 connected thereto by a link. The lever 71 is pivotally mounted at its lower end on a pivot 73, suitably'carried byv the machine frame. A crankpin 74 on the rotatable, wheel 75 has its rotary motion transmitted through the link 76 to a central pivot on the lever 71 and thus causes the plunger and, the book pusher 67- to move in a. required timed relation when the cartons 10. reach the. proper location.

The guide plate 62 of Fig. 5 terminates short of the end position for the book by a sufiicient distanceto allow one book to pass the plate and to be moved.v by the plunger 21', 67. Thus the end book in position A is moved laterally to position B of Fig. 5, where it is supported by the plate 66 and wall 68 in lateral alignment with another book that is brought forward by the belt 18. A horizontal rod 79 is so mounted at one end on wall 62 that it supports the book in a partly reclining position B (Fig. 1). The book, when it moves into position B, rides against a curved arm 80 which insures that the book tips over against the rod 79. The supporting plate 66 terminates laterally at about the left hand end of the book in position B. Then, when the plunger 21 reciprocates again, the book is pushed by a second book off that platform 66 and onto the cardboard on the carrier 17. The book has been leaning backwards against rod 79 (Fig. 1) and because the carrier 17 and its cardboard 10 are moving towards the left, this necessarily pulls the book forward and allows it to drop beneath the rod 79 and into position on the cardboard.

It is required that the book fall on the cardboard only when the latter is in a suitable position therefor. To this end, we provide the intermittent driving mechanism shown in Fig. 1. This comprises 21 Geneva drive 82 of standard construction which comprises the four arms providing slots 83 arranged 90 apart. This rotary member 82 is suitably mounted on a shaft 84 parallel with a rotating shaft 85 carrying a crankpin 86 on the end of an arm which is so positioned that as the pin 86 revolves, it enters one of the slots 83 of the Geneva part and rotates the Geneva shaft 84 through a 90 turn in an intermittent motion depending upon the revolution of the crankpin. A sprocket fixed on shaft 85 is connected through the chain 87 to a suitable driving sprocket mounted on the driven shaft 55. This revolves the pin 86 continuously and this drives the Geneva shaft intermittently through 90 for each rotation of shaft 85. Another sprocket on the shaft 84 carries the chain 88 which passes over two rollers 89 and is depressed to engage the teeth of a sprocket 90 whose shaft 91 carries a further sprocket that drives the chain 92 which transmits its power to the shaft 94 that drives the book feeding belt 18. Thus, the book carrying belt operates intermittently in a timed relation with the movement of the pusher 21, and a book is delivered to position B on the platform 66 only by a synchronized action which is so timed that the book in the last position of this transversely moving series of three books will be shoved off onto the cardboard 10 just as the latter reaches a proper position therefor. The book pushing mechanism is driven by a chain drive 96 driven by a suitable sprocket on the continuously rotating shaft 85. The chain transmits its motion through bevelled gears 97 to the shaft 98 that carries the crank 75 and operates the levers 71, as is shown in Figs. 1 and 5. Thus, the books are moved forward by their supporting belt in a timed relationship with the constantly reciprocating plunger 21, 67, and the Geneva drive delivers the books to the plunger as needed.

In order to insure a proper positioning of the book on the carton blank 18, we provide a swinging arm 22 (Fig. 1). This arm is carried on a shaft 100 and is moved by a rocker arm 101 connected by a link 102 with a swinging arm 103 that is pivoted at 104 on the machine frame. The left hand end of this arm 103 carries a roller 105 which rides against a cam 106 mounted on the driven shaft 55. That cam is so shaped, as illustrated, that it provides low and high cylindrical portions connected by short steep risers. Thus, as the cam is rotated at a constant rate by the power driven shaft 55, and the cam roller drops to a low point, the arm 22 is swung forward, with the aid of a suitable spring which lifts the long lever arm 103, to a position where it strikes the front end of the moving book and crowds it back, if needed, to a correct position on the blank 10. This cam is so shaped that the arm 22 makes a quick striking motion against the book and is immediately thrust back to its left hand position by the cam, so that the book may pass under the arm without any interference. The

b centering of the book laterally of the blank 10 is accomplished by vertical guides engaging the book at a subsequent portion of its travel.

The book is now located on the cardboard blank, and the next step requires folding the end flaps 11, 13. This is accomplished by the mechanism shown at the left in Fig. l and at the right in Fig. 2. This comprises a second belt carrier 26 arranged to receive the blank 10 and book 20 from the first belt system. The second carrier 26 is moving more slowly than the feeder belt 17. For example, the first belt may travel at 20 feet per revolution of a driver while the second belt 26 travels 14 feet per revolution. The first belt system 17 has two sets of driving lugs 16 spaced apart laterally, as shown particularly in Fig. 6. The second belt system 26 comprises driving lugs 27 which are single members nearly as high as a book and so shaped that they pass between the lugs 16 as they both go around the shaft 55, so that they do not interfere with each other. The belts are co-extensive, in that they pass around the same shaft 55, so that a book is delivered from the high speed belt to the slow speed belt. Before the book 20 has left the first high speed belt system, the flap 11, 13 is struck by a lug 27 on the second slow belt 26 coming up from beneath, which lifts against the flap 11 and folds it up against the front end of the book. The high speed belt 17 crowds the book forward against that lug 27. When the book 20 has left the high speed belt and is now carried on the slow speed chain system 26, a second lug 27 comes into position from beneath, as shown in Fig. 2, and engages the rear flaps 11, 13 of the blank 10 and folds them up against the book end. The second lug 27 crowds into place and is spaced from the lug ahead of it just enough to hold the length of the book and the double thickness of the carton flaps therebetween.

There is a danger that the lugs 27 will lift the book off the carrier chain 26, and to prevent this we have provided a holddown mechanism comprising the blocks 24 projecting from the endless carrier chain 25. That chain is mounted on sprockets 110 carried on horizontal shafts 111 suitably mounted on the machine frame. A gear on the left hand shaft 111 is suitably driven by another gear on the shaft 113 which in turn is driven by a chain 114 from a sprocket carried by the driven shaft 55. The

5 blocks 24 on the chain 25 are of such height that they crowd down close to the top of the book, and they travel along at the same rate as the book moves, as is provided by a suitable sprocket ratio. The blocks have been arranged in sets of threes, the forward one of the three serving to steady the front end of the book when the front flap 11, 13 is turned up and the two rear blocks 24 hold the rear portion of the book in place when the second lug 27 takes hold and folds up the rear flap. This belt system may be extended farther towards the left in Fig. 2 if deemed desirable, so as to steady the top of the book during subsequent operations, or a separate belt system may be provided.

The next step in the process involves folding the front flap 13 down against the top of the book. This is accomplished by a cam plate 30 (Fig. 2) having its under surface horizontal and spaced sufficiently' from the book carrier to permit the latters passage therebeneath, as it moves towards the left. The plate 30 has a front camming surface 31 arranged at an angle and so shaped that when the front flap 13 is struck medially by that cam, the flap is folded back against the top of the book and the flap then rides under the lower horizontal surface of the cam plate 30 and so cannot spring up again. This cam plate may be a single, vertical plate mounted medially and longitudinally of the traveling book and the supporting chain therebeneath.

The rear flap 13 is folded over the top of the traveling book by a special mechanism comprising the revolving arm 32 (Figs. 2, 7 and 9). This arm is suitably mounted radially on a collar fixed to rotate with the shaft 121,. which is driven at aconstant rate by means. of a sprocket 122. on the.- shaft and a driving chain 123. connected with another driving sprocket mounted on the left hand shaft 111: which carries: the blocks 24. Thearm 32 is revolved constantly in. the direction of the arrow, and it is so located and" timed that it moves. forward from the position of, Fig. 7- to the position of Fig. 9 in time to strike the rear flap. 13 of the carton andv bend it forward against the moving book. This arm 32 is bent at its end, as. shown, so. as to wipe across the flap without damaging the same. The bottom flap portion 11 is held steady by the pusher'block 21. Then, as the book moves forward with the front flap 13 folded down under the cam arm 30, the rear flap 13 will be bent down in. time to ride under the cam surface 31 and thus be held. in position.

In order to fold: the. side flaps 12, 14 into position over the end flaps, we provide two curved rods23- (Figs. 2, 8 and 9-), the lower ends of which are just outside ofthe second chain carrier 26 and its; lugs 27. The upper ends are supported substantially in alignment with the sides of the book so that the rods bend inwardly as well as upwardly. The two rods are cam members soshaped that when the. horizontal flaps 12, 14 moveinto contact with the sloping lower portion of the rod 28' the side flaps are gradually lifted, as indicated in Fig. 7, and bent into the vertical position of Fig. 9; Thenthe book passes between apair of stationary vertical guide plates 29'WhiCh are so spaced that the book with the upstanding flaps may ride closely therebetween, and these vertical plates or channel walls 29' will hold the lower portions 12 of the side flaps against the sides ofthebook. During this folding of the side flaps, the cam plate 30 prevents the book and carton from lifting.

The next step is to fold the top portions 14 of these side flaps down against the top faces of the end flaps of the car-ton. This is accomplished by means of two curved spaced guides or cam plates 34 which are shaped and mounted as shown in Figs; 2, 10- and 11. The left hand end of each plate (Fig. 2) is horizontal and is attached to or forms a continuation of the horizontal flange of an angleiron 35' which has a vertical portion 36 in alignment with the channel iron 29 that has heretofore held the side flaps in a vertical position. The guides 34 are twisted towards their right hand ends to form a wall that slopes upwardly and inwardly above the book. They initiallyengage the top portions of the flaps 14, and their downwardly sloping portions, which curve inwardly towards the left, cause-the flap 1'4- to'be bent downwardly until it finally reaches a horizontal position where it passes under and is thereafter held bythe horizontal flange 35 of the angleiron. At that time, the side fl'ap portions 12 are held against the book by the vertical flange plates 36-, and the top portions 14 are folded down and pass under the horizontal flange members 35. At this point, the carton is transferred to a third carrier chain system 40 comprising two spaced driving chains having spaced lugs 41 projecting upwardly enough to move the carton forward. The chains are driven at the rate of the second carrier system 26. The carrier mount comprises sprockets 124' on the shaft 125 which carries supporting sprockets for chain 26.

The book has now been fully enclosed by the folded carton walls, and the next step is to seal the foldedparts in position and preferably by means of the gummed tape 38. The horizontal flange portions 35 are spaced as shown in Fig; 11 and thus permit the application of the tape therebetween. The roller 39 which applies the tape is suitably mounted on a shaft just. above the top of the book. It leads the tape 38 with its gummed. face downward into contact with the. opposed portions of the two flaps, 14 and medially. of the crevice therebetween, so that thetape. will: seal that crevice and:- hold the two top flaps in, position. The, tape, is preferably a. premade paper strip having a dried; adhesive- It is suitably supplied from a roll 1'30. freely: rotatable on. a shaft 131 mounted onv the framework of the machine. The tape 38 passes, with its gummed surface on the under side, around and between. two round guides or rollers. 132 where it con tacts with a freely rotatable roll 133- that dips into water in a tank 1'34 and so wets the dry adhesive previously applied to the tape. The wet surface of the tape then passes over a round guide or roller 135 which serves as a scrape-r to remove excess liquid, and the under side of the tape is now wet and in an adhesive condition for application to thecartons. As soon as the tape has been applied to the carton flaps, it iSf pressed down into firm contact by the set of resilient spring metal fingers or shoes 42' which are suitably mounted ona fixed support 136. Each shoe has a curved lower surface, as shown at the right in Fig. 3, which is at wideas the traveling tape and presses smoot-hly'thereagainst.

As the book cartons. are moved along towards the left by the third chain carrier 40, they drag the tape with them and thus the tape connects the two adjacent cartons together. This requires severing the tape half way be tween the two cartons and sticking the free ends down into place. The severing mechanism, as shown primarily in Figs. 3 and 12, comprises a set of sharp knife blades 43, each of which has a downwardly depending triangular shaped edge. Each blade is suitably mounted on a block 140, andthe set of knives and blocks is carried by an endless chain 141 ('Fig; 1 2) driven at the book traveling rate by a pair of sprockets 142' mounted on a suitable rocking frame 143 which is pivotally mounted torock laterally about the pivot 144 carried at one side on the framework. The two shafts 145 carrying the sprockets and chain have their bearings suitably mounted on the frame 143. The right hand sprocket 142 is driven by a chain 146 suitably driven by the shaft 125. The mechanism is so constructed that, the frame 143 is reciprocated to move the pointed knife 43' downwardly with a sudden thrust against the taut gummed tape 33' at a position half way between two adjacentcartons and thus puncture and sever the same. This downward movement of the knife 43 and its supporting frame 143 is effected by means of a reciprocating link 146' pivotally connected at its upper end, to the frame by a universal joint 147. Its other end" is connected by a second universal joint 148 to a rocking lever 150 (Fig. 3') which is pivoted medially at' 151 on the framework 152. this lever carries a cam roller 155' which rides on the peripheral surface of a cam 156 mounted on a cross shaft 157. The cam has cylindrical high and low spots so arranged that as the cam. is rotated it rocks the lever periodically and allows the weight of the knife and its supporting mechanism to drop the knife abruptly and sever the tape. The knife and frame 143 is moved to an inoperative upper position by the, high part of the cam,

where it is held until the medial portion of the tape 33 between two cartons (see dotted line in Fig. 3) is located. beneath the knife.. Then the low part of the cam permits the knife frame to drop quickly about its pivot 144. The cam 156 is driven by. bevel gears 158' connected to the driving shaft 160 which extends lengthwise through the machine, and by means of bevelled gears 161 at its other end is suitably driven by the cross shaft 125 which is in turn power driven by the second chain system 26.

The tape 38: is taut. between twoadjacent cartons and when the knife 43 is dropped to puncture the tape, the leading and rear ends-.of the tape of the. adjacent cartons drop down, as shown. in Fig. 3,. It is required to wipe them across. the adjacent. ends of the cartons. This is effected by two brushes 443 and 45 (Fig. 3) which are arranged to travel with the knife 43 and are located one on each side of the knife.v It will be observed that there are threev knives and. three sets of'brushes. mounted on the endless; chain; 141;. These brushes. comprise hair or The other end of fibre projecting laterally or horizontally from a suitable support carried by the chain. The ends of the brushes are spaced slightly greater than the distance between the carton ends so as to provide a satisfactory frictional contact. The position of each knife is such that it moves into place over the space between two cartons, and the drive for the chain 141 is timed relative to the forward motion of the cartons so that one of the knives will strike the tape at a medial position. The chain and the cartons travel at the same rate, so that a second knife is coming into position after a first knife drops to cut the tape and then travels forward out of the way. The brushes 44 and 45 which are carried by the chain 141 thus drop with the knife 43, and they wipe closely across the adjacent ends of the cartons as soon as the tape is severed and thus fasten the wet surfaces of the adhesive tape ends to the carton ends 11.

After this brushing action has taken place and the knife and associated brushes have been lifted by cam 156 out of the path of the cartons, the next step involved is that of folding the lower free ends of the tapes onto the under sides of the cartons. When the rear one of the two adjacent cartons on opposite sides of the knife moves forward, it passes over a metal spring finger 47 so located beneath and between the chains 45 that it will wipe the freely depending end of the tape on the leading portion of the book up and against its under face. To afiix in place the other depending tape end at the rear of the book carton, we provide a brush 46 mounted on another endless chain belt 165 carried by two sprocket wheels 166 and 167 which are suitably mounted on cross shafts carried by the framework. This endless belt has a single brush 46 mounted to project outwardly and upwardly and it is located to wipe across the carton between the drive chains 40. It is driven by a chain belt 168 driven by a suitable sprocket 169 on the cam shaft 157. The belt 165 is timed to move at about twice the speed of the traveling cartons, so that the brush 46 will be caused to travel up against the depending portion of the tape and to wipe it across the lower rear portion of the carton before the carton has passed out of the range of the brush. The belt 165 is driven by a suitable chain connection 168 with a sprocket on the driven shaft 157.

This completes the operation of enclosing the book and sealing it within its carton. It is, however, desirable to turn the carton over so that an addressing or mailing label may be afiixed to its smooth, flat surface that has previously been on the bottom, it being noted that the flaps 14 are at the top of the book in its traveling position. In order to turn the carton bottom side up, we provide a pair of arms 48 suitably fixed to collars on the cam shaft 157 (Figs. 3 and 13) and the arms rotate constantly at a fast enough speed so that when the book and carton on the traveling chain 40 reach the proper position the arms 48 come up from the lower side and flop the book carton end over end toward the left and deposit it again on the chain 459 where it moves onto a table where the addressing label may be suitably applied.

The operation of the apparatus has been fully set forth above. It may, however, be noted that the various mechanisms accomplish the following sequence of operations. One or more power driven conveyers, shown as three sets of chains 17, 26 and 4t), serve to carry the cut and creased cardboards progressively from a supply point to one where the loaded cartons are discharged. A pile of the cut cardboards 10 is arranged over or adjacent to the conveyer where a pair of spaced lugs 16 (Fig. 6) on two endless chains 17 engage the opposed arms of the cross shaped cardboard and remove the bottom cardboard from the pile. A set of books 20 standing vertically on a traveling belt 18 (Figs. 1 and 6) are fed forward intermittently by a Geneva drive to a platform 66 where a reciprocating plunger 21 (Fig. 5) pushes the books laterally and one at a time to a second position B, where a third book delivered to the platform in position A serves to 1d shove the book B off the platform and onto the traveling" cardboard 10 just as the latter reaches a proper position. The kicker 22 moves the book into a correct relation to the cardboard so that the latter may be folded around the book.

' Then the cardboard flaps are folded into place, one at a time, while the book is held down on the cardboard by blocks 24 mounted on a traveling chain 25 moving in the same direction and at the rate of the book. The book is transferred from the first conveyer chain system 17 to a chain 26 moving at a slower rate. At the point of transfer where the first and second chains pass around a common axle 55, a lug 27 on the second chain comes up from beneath and bends up the front end flap 11, 13 while the higher speed first chain 17 crowds the book forward and forces the flap to stand vertical between the book and the lug 27 as shown at the left in Fig. 1. Then, as shown at the right in Fig. 2, a second lug 27 comes up behind the book and bends up the rear end flap and crowds the book against the forward lug. A cam 30 engages the vertical forward end flap 13 as the book moves thereunder and forces it down against the book. A rotary arm 32 then swings around and bends the rear end flap 13 down in time for it to pass under and be held by the horizontal bottom edge of the cam. Thereafter, each side flap 12, 14 is lifted to a vertical position by the cam rods 28 (Figs. 7, 8 and 9) where they are confined between vertical side walls 29. Then two twisted cam plates: 34 (Figs. 2, 9 and 10) bend the upper flap parts 14 down and they are held against the book top and the horizontal end flaps 13 by the horizontal plates 35 which are continuations of the cam plates 34, arranged to engage only the side portions of the top of the book.

Hereafter, the carton, which now fully encloses the book, is moved by a third conveyer comprising two spaced chains 40 to a position beneath a label roller 39 where the sticky side of the label 38 is afixed continuously to the spaced sets of cartons where it overlaps the two side flaps 14. Then, as shown in Fig. 3, the label is pressed into place by spring fingers 42. Since the tape is continuous and connects the series of cartons together, the next step is to sever the taut tape midway between the cartons and wipe the free ends of the tape into their final positions. For this purpose, a set of knives 43 is mounted on an endless belt 141 and moved at the rate of travel of the books. The carrier frame for the belt 141 is pivotally mounted at 144 (Fig. 12) and the frame is moved downwardly by cam 156 while two cartons are equally spaced relative to the knife, and the latter strikes and cuts the tape in two. At the same time, two brushes 44, 45 on opposite sides of the operating knife brush the free ends of the tape against the two adjacent carton ends. A stationary spring finger 4'7 wipes the forward tape end under the bottom face of the second carton. The other free end at the rear of the first carton is wiped into positron by a brush 46 moved by a traveling chain at twice the speed of the carton. These brushes engage the carton between the chains of the third conveyer. Thereafter a rotary lever 48 comes up from beneath and turns the loaded carton end over end so that a label may be applied to the continuous face of the carton.

It will now be appreciated that various modifications may be made in this construction within the scope of the lnvention and as suggested by the above disclosure. It, for example, is feasible to arrange the conveyer system at a suitable angle to the horizontal shown in the drawings, and the number of conveyers may be varied, with suitable changes in the cooperating parts. A single conveyer may serve for transporting the carton blank and book while the end flaps are folded up by a supplemental endless traveler which conforms with and serves the functions of the second conveyer although it need not be the sole support for the blank. Also, the order of folding the flaps is not critical provided the final result is accomplished. In its basic principle, the invention involves mechanically building a carton around a book from a flat cardboard of a required cut shape simulating a Greek cross. It is preferred to crease the cardboard blank prior to its use along lines which provide the double flap portions, so that the flaps will bend correctly in the required. places. Changes may be made in the shape and the locations of the creases to accommodate various sizes of books. Also, the tape which seals the flaps may carry its own adhesive or the latter may be applied to the tape or to the carton by a separate operation- Such changes arewithin the skill. of one who is an expert in the book making industry.

Hence, it will be understood that the. above disclosure is to be interpreted as. setting forth the principles of this invention and a. preferred embodiment thereof and: not as imposing-.limitationson the appended claims.

We claim:

1.. A book packaging. machine comprising a power driven traveling conveyer, means providing a supply of flat cartonforming cardboard: blanks having opposed side and end flaps defined. by inner and outer creases and shaped for folding. around all faces of a book, the traveling con veyer. having a. lug for pushing a blank progressively forward in a spaced fiat: relationship with the end flaps forward and at the rear and having a book thereon, mecha nism. for feeding books serially and positioning one on each traveling flat blank in exact relation to and bet-weenthe inner. creases, means for initially folding each of the front and rear end flaps upwardly about their inner creases, means acting thereafter to fold the end flaps about their outer creases into position over and adjacent to the top of the book, means for folding each of the side flaps successively about their inner andouter creases over the previously positioned end flaps at the'top of the book so as to build a carton around the book, intermittently operated mechanism for moving the book rearwardly relative to thev conveyer travel into full contact with said conveyer lug so that the book is exactly positioned relative to. the inner creases of. the cardboard blank, and means for affixing theflaps in place.

2. A book packaging machine comprising a power driven traveling conveyer, means providing a supply of flat carton forming cardboard blanks having opposed side and end flaps defined by inner and outer creases and shaped for folding around all faces ofa book, the travel ing conveyer serving to move the blanks progressively in a spaced flat relationship with the end flaps forward and at the rear,.mechanism for feeding books seriallyand positioning. one: on each traveling flat blank in exact relation to and between the. inner creases, means for initially folding each of the. front and rear end flaps upwardly about their inner creases, means acting thereafter to fold the end flaps about. their outer creases into position over and adjacent to the top of the book, means for folding each of the side flaps successively about their inner and outer creases over. the previously positioned end flaps at the topof the; book so as to build acarton around the book, means traveling. with the book which holds thebook in position on the cardboard blank so that the flap'folding means operates while the book is thus held to bend the blank aboutits creases and elevate the associated flaps, and means for aflixing the flaps in place.

3. A book packaging machine comprising a power driven traveling conveyer, means providing a supply of flat carton forming cardboard blanks having opposed side and end flaps defined by inner and outer creases and shaped for folding around all faces of a book, the traveling conveyer serving to move the blanks progressively in a. spaced flat relationship with the end flaps forward and at the rear, mechanism for feeding books serially and positioning one on each traveling flat blank in exact relation to and between the inner creases, means for initially folding each. of the front and rear end flaps up.- wardly about their inner creases, a cam positioned above the. traveling book which. engages and folds the upstanding; end. portion of the front flap back about the outer crease over and against the book, a rotary member engaging and folding the end portion of the rear end fiap about its outer crease over and against the book, said cam serving to hold both folded flaps in position, means for folding each. of the side flaps successively about their inner and outer creases over the previously positioned end flaps at the top of the book so as to build a carton around the book, and means for aifixing the flaps in place.

47.- A book packaging machine comprising a power driven conveyer arranged for transporting a series of spaced carton forming, cross shaped cardboard blanks having creases defining foldable flaps at the ends and sides of each blank, means providing a supply of books, a pusher whichv delivers the books serially to the blanks on the conveyer, a belt arranged for presenting a book from said supply to a position in front of the pusher, power mechanism to reciprocate the pusher, an intermittently operated mechanism which moves the belt in timed relation with the pusher movement so that a book is moved into position only when the pusher is withdrawn, and means for folding the flaps to enclose the book on said conveyer.

5'. A book packaging machine comprising a conveyer to move forward serially at a definite rate a cardboard blank creased to define end flaps, a second conveyer arranged to receive the blank from the first so as to move each blank continuously with one end flap forward and the other at the rear, and means for moving the first conveyer to carry the blank at a rate faster than that of the second conveyer, the conveyers having lugs so arranged that a lug on the slower conveyer lifts the forward end flap while the book and cardboard are thrust against it by a lug on the faster conveyer and a second lug on the slower conveyer comes from beneath and lifts the rear end flap thereafter, said lugs on the second conveyer being so arranged as to crowd the book and the end flaps between the two lugs.

6. A book packaging machine comprising a power driven conveyer having pushers arranged for transporting in a. spaced relationship a series of fiat cardboard blanks having inner and outer creases defining doubly foldable end and side flaps, the end flaps being at the front and rear on the. conveyer, means. for locating a book exactly on the moving blank inrelation to said pusher and within the inner creases, means for holding the book down on the blank, means acting while the book is thus held for bending the front and rear end flaps upwardly about the inner creases, a member acting on the front upright flap to fold itabout the outer crease against the book, means-moving forward from the rear to fold the rear upright flap about the outer crease against the book, means to fold the side flaps about their inner creases to anupright position, means acting thereafter to fold the side flaps about the outer creases into positions over the end flaps, means for holding the side flaps down in position, and mechanism for applying a sealing strip across the gap between the positioned side flaps and forming a series of separate book containing cartons.

7. A book packaging machine comprising standards providing a storage of flat cross shaped carton forming blanks having inner and outer creases defining two foldable flaps at each end and side, a power driven conveyer therefor arranged for removing the blanks serially from said storage and carrying them flat in a spaced relation, mechanism for depositing a book on each blank accurately within the inner creases, means for holding the book in position on the blank, means for successively folding the end flaps about their inner creases to upright positions while the book is-thus held and then folding the end flaps about the outer creases and over the book, means forv folding the side flaps successively about the inner and outer creases and forming a cartonhaving longitudinally providing a supply of adhesive tape, means for continuously applying the tape longitudinally over the two exposed flaps and crevice of two adjacent traveling cartons as a continuous connecting tape therebetween, and means for severing the tape between the two cartons and aflixing the free ends of the tape to the two adjacent ends of the cartons during their uninterrupted travel.

8. A book packaging machine according to claim 7 in which the tape severing means comprises a cutting knife, and means to move the knife and sever the tape between the two cartons and then withdraw the knife from the path of movement of the carton.

9. A book packaging machine according to claim 7 comprising a carrier for moving the knife along with and at the rate of the carton movement and intermittently operated mechanism for moving the knife relative to the tape to sever the tape medially between the two cartons.

10. A book packaging machine according to claim 7 comprising a knife movable with the cartons, brushes mounted to travel with and on opposite sides of the knife which are arranged to afiix the free severed ends of the tape to the ends of the two adjacent cartons, and means for reciprocating the knife and brushes to cut and atfix the tape.

11. A book packaging machine according to claim 10 comprising means including a wiper arranged to wipe an advancing free tape end back over the bottom face of the carton, said conveyer comprising two spaced chains which provide for the application of the tape to the bottom carton face.

12. A book packaging machine comprising a set of endless conveyers arranged to move a series of books on carton blanks progressively, mechanism to drive the same, the first conveyer being formed of two endless chains providing pairs of spaced and aligned projecting lugs, means for feeding serially to the chains and lugs a set of flat creased carton forming cross shaped cardboard blanks having opposed end flaps at the front and rear and laterally projecting side flaps engaged by the lugs,

means for depositing a book on the blanks, a second endless chain conveyer moving slower than the first which has single lugs arranged to interfit between the pairs of lugs on the first conveyer chains, power driven sprockets on the same axis to move the chains of the two conveyers at said speeds, the lugs of the second conveyer serving to lift the leading end flap while a lug on the first conveyer crowds the carton thereagainst, the second conveyer lugs being spaced to lift the rear flap and hold the carton between two adjacent lugs, means to fold the end portions of the flaps over the book, cam devices to lift and fold the side flaps over the book and end flaps, and means for applying an adhesive tape longitudinally of the two top side flaps and securing them together.

13. A book packaging machine according to claim 12 comprising intermittently operated mechanism to deposit books serially on the blanks on the first conveyer, mechanism for aifixing a continuous tape to seal the flaps of adjacent cartons and provide a connecting tape portion between adjacent cartons and mechanism including a knife and wipers traveling with and at the rate of the cartons which severs the tape therebetween and affixes the free ends to the cartons.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 639,354 Butler Dec. 19, 1899 893,846 Hook July 21, 1908 1,269,308 Reifsnyder June 11, 1918 1,426,429 Weightman Aug. 22, 1922 1,468,333 Thorn Sept. 18, 1923 1,489,134 Ladd Apr. 1, 1924 1,599,154 Weightman Sept. 7, 1926 1,784,571 Bergstein Dec. 9, 1930 1,880,460 Morris Oct. 4, 1932 2,018,432 Ackley Oct. 22, 1935 2,612,016 Anderson Sept. 30, 1952 

